Light

HEy everyone!

I am doing much better today! Now Elder Kama is having a few struggles so we are working through some of that. Not really sure what to do yet. I know how he feels though so I am just being patient since he was patient with me. All is well.

We had some good news happen this week! Dusty wants to get baptized on Christmas day! The other night, the day after we ate thanksgiving at the Bemis's house, we encouraged Sister Bemis to invite Dusty to baptism in our next lesson. We told her how to do it so she wouldn't feel pushed. Well the next day, we found out that Sister Bemis called Dusty on the phone and invited her to baptism! We were really surprised. That doesn't happen but she wants me to baptize her. She is so appreciative that we and the Bemises came into her life. She too has been struggling with depression. She is such a good person. 

This week we have been prepping for the LIght the World Christmas Initiative. We made our own pamphlets to give to people at church. So far it has had a good impact. We gave a card to the ladies at the compassionate clothing donation place that we helped sort clothes at this morning.

I am really grateful for this opportunity to serve like Christ did for 25 straight days. I think it will be the most meaningful christmas of my life. I really like the whole concept of light and darkness. i've experienced quite a bit of darkness lately. It's been a combination of lots of things--stress, higher expectations, new responsibilites, the cold weather, this kind of depressing town, etc. but I can attest that no matter how dark I feel inside there is always days of light around the corner. I'm doing good right now. I plan on staying this way. I also am trying on not being a perfectionist. One thing that can cause discouragement is "all or nothing" thinking. You make one mistake and all is lost. It feels like you have to just start over again. But I've come to learn that if I make a mistake I just have to move on and not dwell on it so much. I mean, it is so easy to make a mistake as a missionary! We have hundreds of rules. It is impossible to keep them all perfectly. I really like what I studied this week by J. Devn Cornish :
 If you will really try and will not rationalize or rebel—repenting often and pleading for grace—you positively are going to be “good enough.”

I really like that because when living the gospel it may seem like sometimes there is this certain point we have to reach before we can ever be happy. I've learned though that I will never be happy with that mentality because I will continually fall short. So I just have to try my best. I am reminded of a great quote by Brad Wilcox:

"When a young pianist hits a wrong note, we don’t say he is not worthy to keep practicing. We don’t expect him to be flawless. We just expect him to keep trying. Perfection may be his ultimate goal, but for now we can be content with progress in the right direction. Why is this perspective so easy to see in the context of learning piano but so hard to see in the context of learning heaven?

Too many are giving up on the Church because they are tired of constantly feeling like they are falling short. They have tried in the past, but they continually feel like they are just not good enough. They don’t understand grace

There should never be just two options: perfection or giving up. When learning the piano, are the only options performing at Carnegie Hall or quitting? No. Growth and development take time. Learning takes time. When we understand grace, we understand that God is long-suffering, that change is a process, and that repentance is a pattern in our lives. When we understand grace, we understand that the blessings of Christ’s Atonement are continuous and His strength is perfect in our weakness"

I know God loves me and that he has provided me an unlimited amount of chances to repent. The gospel is true.

Elder Soutas

the Divine Gift of Gratitude

So I am basically just going to copy and paste  emails from now on that I send to my mission president if they're not too confidential.

"This someone called the cops on us for knocking on doors too late thinking we were soliciting. A cop searched for us and talked to us. He was really chill, but he got down our information and told us we needed a permit from the county to go door to door. 

It took us a couple of days to get the whole city permit thing figured out. First we went to the county jail and they said that we did indeed need a permit. Then we went to the police department as they directed to and they said that we didn't even need to have a permit and so I guess everything is fine now. We are not sure why one of their officers told us that we needed a permit and his own department said we didn't. 

At first we weren't really sure what to think, but now we think maybe there is a divine involvement or some explanation for all of this because a week earlier we had been contemplating ways to do service in the community and one of the was called "Shop with a Cop." And so as a consequence we found out all of the information and signed up for this service activity (which is where we shop for Christmas gifts for other people). So maybe the Lord wants us to do that. Who knows for sure. 

We did some other service this week too for the animal shelter. We each walked one dog and my dog was a hairless, scaredy dog that was like 5 pounds! It wouldn't even walk because it was cold and terrified of Elder Kama's big dog. I had to practically force the dog to walk. It had no problem walking back to the shelter though since Elder Kama was behind us.

This week was good. a lot of good things happened that I hope to remember. Being a district leader of course carries some more responsibility but I enjoy it. I like making assignments and asking God for inspiration. Our first district meeting went really great and the spirit was really strong. the zone leaders even said that I nailed it! Of course it was nothing I really did. The district seems to be doing really well. The Mattoon Sisters had a baptism this weekend! I had a chance to interview their candidate, and it lasted an entire hour because he was about 72 years old and had a lot of stories he probably could've kept to himself. A lot of people in Illinois have no filter on their minds. I hope I made the right decision to pass him. He had a hard time remember some of the doctrines but I decided that was a result of him being old. It seemed to me that he had truly repented of all my sins. 

And Effingham is working really hard. Elder Durrant is no longer here but we got Elder Merril and he seems like a pretty good missionary. He was companions with "my dad" Elder Lovik (the one who trained me). Elder Lovik will be going home after this transfer. 

 As for me and Elder Kama, we aren't doing too bad ourselves. There was a few setbacks with a couple of our investigators this week, particularly with Brent being basically forced to postpone his baptism again! Other than that there were some really cool things like our recent convert Mashell being healed from a blessing in the emergency room. The zone leaders gave her the blessing. She bore her testimony about it on Sunday saying that as soon as they left she began to feel better! Also our investigator Julie who is getting married to a member-- Brother Fulk-- came to church. They are having a civil wedding at the church on Dec 10. No baptismal date yet. We had dinner and a lesson at the Rigdons, a great family in the area who is related to a lot of people. 

Which comes to another problem which is trypical of branches. It was kind of good that Brent didn't have his baptism yesterday because there was a lady in the branch who is related to a lot of people in the branch who got up to "bear her testimony" and told the branch that we were the worst people ever. So yes, God knows what he is doing. Glad Brent didn't get baptized under those circumstances. I hope Julie wasn't too perturbed.

Our goals for this week as a companionship are to be more encouraging to each other and to be more grateful in any circumstance. We've been listening to a lot of talks on Gratitude that we made on a CD. My favorite one is by Thomas S. Monson: "The Divine Gift of Gratitude." Gratitude is one of my fave topics right.

He says and I quote: "it is my prayer that in addition to all else for which we are grateful, we may ever reflect our gratitude for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. His glorious gospel provides answers to life’s greatest questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here? Where do our spirits go when we die? That gospel brings to those who live in darkness the light of divine truth.

He taught us how to pray. He taught us how to live. He taught us how to die. His life is a legacy of love. The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved.

Ultimately, He stood alone. Some Apostles doubted; one betrayed Him. The Roman soldiers pierced His side. The angry mob took His life. There yet rings from Golgotha’s hill His compassionate words: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

Who was this “man of sorrows, … acquainted with grief”? “Who is this King of glory,” this Lord of lords? He is our Master. He is our Savior. He is the Son of God. He is the Author of Our Salvation. He beckons, “Follow me.” He instructs, “Go, and do thou likewise.” He pleads, “Keep my commandments.”

Let us follow Him. Let us emulate His example. Let us obey His words. By so doing, we give to Him the divine gift of gratitude."
I felt so much gratitude for the Atonement when I listened to this talk and in our district meeting. It was kind of amazing. As I listened to it I became aware of my ingratitude which resulted in me having more gratitude. So I think it is true when we recognize our ingratitude we simultaneously are filled with more gratitude. Correct me if I'm wrong. But this was a really special experience for me that I feel like I should share.

In your email you asked what my advice would be to missionaries. It would be this:

LIVE YOUR MISSIONARY LIFE IN SUCH A WAY TO REFLECT YOUR GRATITUDE FOR THE LORD AND FOR HIS TENDER MERCIES UPON YOU AND THOSE WHO YOU SERVE. DONT LET FEAR GET IN THE WAY.

I honestly can't think of a better advice to give someone since I know that the times my mission have been most rewarding are when I am the most grateful. My biggest fear is forgetting the Lord and his blessings to me and failing to recognize his holy hand in my life. And having this fear has led to other fears such as hesitation to share the gospel because when I'm not grateful why would I want to share something that I feel isn't making me happy (at that moment)? To overcome that fear I have had to constantly remind myself of how God has blessed me and how he is blessing me even when it doesn't seem like he is. I want to be like Moroni whose "heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people. I love him so much and wish I would feel this way more often. There is no greater feeling than that of gratitude. I will try to do better at this.

THANK YOU President Bateman! I am so grateful for all that you do to watch over this mission.

With gratitude,

Elder Soutas"

well I'm getting kicked off. I wish I could write more. 

District Leader

Hello,

This week was pretty great. My birthday was the best of course! Thank you everyone for the new shoes, new tie, byu apparel, etc. and birthday wishes!

On my birthday I actually got pied in the face with a pecan pie! How's that for a birthday gift? It was actually because I wanted to so it would be something to remember. Elder Durrant and Dollahite had to get pied too since they lost some kind of challenge. If you're going to get pied in the face don't get pecan because that one hurts a little! INstead get something softer like a banana cream or key lime. 

After I got pied by one of the sister missionaries I picekd up the pie that fell on the ground and ate some of it. Then as they were taking pictures I took the rest of my pie and pied elder durrant in the face as you can see in the photo I sent you. 

Also on my birthday I ate every single one of my cosmic brownies! I didn't use the candles though. Sorry Mom. I should have. 

On thursday we spent some time in Casey, the small town with really BIG objects. The griggs took us to a buffet called Richard's Farm. It was pretty good. IT was an italian buffet so not what you'd expect. After we took a big picture in front of the worl'ds largest pitchfork. I also have attached a big minion. 

More spiritually speaking, we've made some good progress with Brent. He drove himself an hour to Regional conference and he said that he felt comfortable there (which is a big deal for him since he has social anxieties). He also said he felt the spirit and we made sure we got him outfitted for his baptism. So as for right now he should be getting baptized unless someting happenes again. 

A couple days ago we decided that we would take pictures of nature to help Brent keep his mind focused on good things. We thought of that because how he mentions how he likes to get away sometimes and look at nature to keep his mind in a good place. After this email I've gotta go pick up the 1 hour prints of the photos we took from wal mart.

We made some pretty good progress with C.K. I could feel a fire inside of me as we read the book of mormon to him and bore testimony. He is starting to almost believe. not quite though. He asked us if we ever considered that Satan appeared to Joseph smith to give us the book of mormon. By the end of the lesson he knew that was an unreasonable assumption. He likes us. Plus he should know better since he said his father is a satanist. 

Elder Kama and I have been having some fun in the car. He is a really good singer by the way. He sounds like Adell when he sings in the shower in the morning. 

Tryihng to remember all that happened this week is hard. 

Oh yeah, at the regional conference Sunday, Elder Durrant got called out on live television broadcast to 150 stakes by his Uncle--Elder Devin. G. Durrant. When he said that we got really excited and said "That's our district leader!" 

I'm gonna miss Elder Durrant. He's leaving to columbia zone. I am actually replacing him as district leader! Yikes. I'm sure I'll do fine If I just try my best. 

Well I've gotta go. I just want to bear my testimony that i know this church is true and I love my mom and dad and my brothers and sisters too.

just kidding for reals though....I've been trying to improve my prayers and try having more gratitude. I read an awesome talk by Elder Bednar called "Pray Always." I encourage you all to read that because he basically just lays out how to be an amazing prayer-er (not sure if I spelled that right). One thing i like that he says is that the channel to revelation will be widened as we express more gratitude and ask for less blessings. I am going to try doing better at that. As we took pictures for Brent of nature this week I felt gratitude for the small and simple things. LIke President Uchtdorf said last conference: "
We are surrounded by such an astonishing wealth of light and truth that I wonder if we truly appreciate what we have." 

That is my biggest fear--ingratitude. That is what my goal has been this week is trying to express for thanks for blessings when I feel like I have received them. I encourage you all to do the same and find joy in things that matter most. Said President MOnson quoting some poet: “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collecteda lot of empty yesterdays.”1

I find it pretty easy to "postpone our joys" for some later time. But I know that finding joy in the present is really important.

Have a good week! 

Elder Soutas

SaveSave

Happy Birthday Elder Soutas

 Elder Soutas' 21st Birthday! *******************************************************************

The last couple of days quite a bit has happened.
For one, we had Brent's baptism scheduled and all ready to go yesterday---or so we thought. So it turns out that the baptismal clothing that Brent originally said DID fit turned out to not actually fit him when he tried it on. So we scrambled along with our ward mission leader and branch president to find some clothing that could work but to no avail. We had to reschedule the baptism to 2 weeks from now. I felt a little sad that it turned out this way, but oddly, i felt it might have been necessary and answer to prayer. Though Brent passed his interview of worthiness for baptism, I still felt for some reason that the timing wasn't quite right. So I think the Lord may have intervened. Elder Kama was a little upset at himself becasue he felt like he ignored a prompting to tell Brent to try the baptismal clothing on. I told him that there is a reason for this all and not to get too upset at himself. 

in other news, our investigator Julia currently has a baptismal date set for 27 of November! She has great support from her family members as we had a great dinner and lesson with her and her fiance at The Rigdon's home. The main obstacle for them right now is they need to separate. What is good is that they moved their wedding date to Dec 10, but now that they know the baptism is nov 27 that will allow them opportunity to make the choice to live the law of chastity even before their marriage which I think would be best of course before their baptism. Julia is a very choice investigator though and time will tell. 
on exchanges, Elder Durrant and I offered to clean up someone who got TPd on their tree. IT was really fun! probably one of the best service things I've done on my mission. I'll send a pic of elder durrant. he hasn't sent the one of me yet. we had to use long stikcs to get the ones high in the branches. Service is the best medicine. 
Our goals for this week:

we really want to focus on the fundamentals in the 12 week book. It is so easy to get away from those. I personally think every missionary should use the 12 week book for their studies. 3 months is not enough to master those principles and teaching techniques. I think it would improve our mission a lot if we all did that. 

we also really are hoping to gain better trust with the members. The baptism haveing to be rescheduled sure didn't help with that, but we want to try to have more member visits and invite them to participate in the work of salvation. To do this, we are thinking of sharing the 3-5 min resto with them and having them study and teach it to us in a follow up visit. Also we have thought of calling certain family members "on a mission." There is an awesome story that I read from an ensign article of how a small branch was built into a huge ward because they had "proselyting families." Certain families would go out and find other families to invite to activities and love them into the church. All of this is easier said than done, but we will give it a shot!

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes! I am so grateful for eternal families.

Sorry my email is kind of lame this week. 

Elder Soutas

p.s. ill send the baptismal photos once i get them. 

Mashell's Baptism

This week has been great. We've been really blessed in the past week. We found another investigator almost by accident it seemed. It was divine intervention though. We accidentally missed our exit to Paris traveling back from Casey, and so we ended up on a road we had never been on before, however we recognized the name of it since we intended to go there a few weeks previous. There lived a less active member and his non member fiancé--Brian and Julia. We taught them the restoration and she is thinking about getting sealed to him for time and all eternity. We also have great fellowship from the ward because the Benders who we rent from know her well as well as other families in the branch. 

Mashell's baptism was on Sunday! It was a wonderful event. The program, though last notice, turned out exceptional as the Large's young daughters did beautiful talks and musical numbers that really brought the spirit of the Lord. It even had Randy--Mashell's husband--choked up in tears. He also made the comment that to his memory the Holy Ghost reminded him how his mother wished he would marry a Mormon girl. Well that wish came true on Sunday as Mashell was baptized. 

Mashell explained that as she went under the water it felt like her heart jumped out of her chest, and when she came up out of the water she saw gold light, which I suggested to her may have been a glimpse of heaven. It was a beautiful Sabbath for a baptism! 

In other news, Brent has a great shot at being baptized Sunday. At this point he is worthy and has overcome some temptations. We have his interview tomorrow with Elder Durrant and we are being extra careful that we don't baptize him too early. We are having him pray about whether or not he should get baptized this Sunday. He's kind of a shy guy and so my only concern is of his fellowship and how he has social anxieties. We feel like he is definitely worthy, but we want him to make this decision completely himself. 

We had a good district meeting yesterday. Our goals for this week are to

(1) Teach shorter more powerful lessons since they are WAY too long sometimes.

(2) Have more fun but not lose the spirit of obedience

     It was inspired that Elder Durrant and I weren't called to be full time companions together because we have WaY too much FUN on exchanges! I told him that I gave him permission to marry my sister. I was half kidding but not really. I can see us being good friends someday after the mission. 

(3) Make sure we have an effective comp inventory

As for me, my personal goal this week is:

(1) Judge righteously

I like what President Brigham Young said

"Who has the greatest reason to be thankful to his God—the man that has no strong passion or evil appetite to overcome, or the one that tries day by day to overcome, and yet is overtaken in a fault? The power of his strength, faith, and judgment is overcome, and he is found in fault through his evil propensities, though he is striving, day after day, and night after night, to overcome. Who has reason to be the most thankful? The being that has comparatively no strong passion to overcome ought constantly to walk in the vale of humility, rather than boast of his righteousness over his brother. We are under obligation, through the filial feeling and ties of humanity, to more or less fellowship those who do evil. We must endure this until the Lord shall see fit to separate the wheat from the chaff—until the righteous are gathered out, and the wicked are bound in bundles prepared for the burning [see D&C 86]—until the sheep are separated from the goats [see Matthew 25:31–34]. Those who have not strong passions to contend with, day by day, and year by year, should walk in the vale of humiliation; and if brethren and sisters are overtaken in fault, your hearts should be filled with kindness—with brotherly, angelic feeling—to overlook their faults as far as possible" 

(2) start reprogramming my negative thinking patterns

(3) Express more gratitude in my prayers for blessigns received. 

Brigham Young  a very wise man, also said:

"We have reason to rejoice exceedingly that faith is in the world, that the Lord reigns, and does his pleasure among the inhabitants of the earth. Do you ask if I rejoice because the Devil has the advantage over the inhabitants of the earth, and has afflicted mankind? I most assuredly answer in the affirmative; I rejoice in this as much as in anything else. I rejoice because I am afflicted. I rejoice because I am poor. I rejoice because I am cast down. Why? Because I shall be lifted up again. I rejoice that I am poor because I shall be made rich; that I am afflicted, because I shall be comforted, and prepared to enjoy the felicity of perfect happiness, for it is impossible to properly appreciate happiness except by enduring the opposite...."

...

"What is our duty? It is our duty to improve upon every blessing the Lord gives to us.

Just been reading some of the teachings of the presidents manuals, I think are some of the most neglected words of wisdom ever. I am going to download them onto my microsd card so I can listen to them in the car while driving. Same with Joseph Smith. 

Well I hope you all have a fantastic week! I know that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God. I learned this week how impeachable his character truly was, and only God good turn an unlearned farm boy to a man as astute and upright as he was. I wish I had the time to learn more of the kind of person he was. I am grateful for my trials which I have had which I am starting to learn are given to me for a wise purpose, of which I am still unclear on. I love what Elder Schmutz said in conference:                       

  "When we view the difficult experiences of life through the lens of faith in Christ, we are able to see that there can be godly purpose in our suffering"Though we may all at times "see through a glass darkly" as Paul said it, only our faith in Jesus Christ will allow us to see things clearly, things as they really are. I testify of God's redeeming love which can encircle all of us if we will try to view the world, others, ourselves, and our suffering as he sees it.Again, Hope you have a wonderful week!Elder Soutasp.s how is jenessa doing? I never heard from her last week.

Working Hard

Hey everyone!

we had a pretty solid week! Eugenio came to church for all 3 hours as well as the 8 year old baptism afterward! He seemed to enjoy it. I really enjoyed sitting next to him and Sister Rigdon as she translated Spanish for him very well! I really want to learn how to speak spanish and vietnamese now, and also italian. the italian can probably wait though.

we invited Eugenio to baptism OCt 30 but he isn't sure yet. HE needs to do some more of his research. Also, he starts working on sunday in 2 weeks and is a very hard working hispanic.I love him too. I don't know if you all remember Jose who I taught in my first area. Well I've had a little experience trying to teach hispanics so that's good. He actually got baptized a few months ago which was good to hear! 

we taught Eugenio on thrusday night. WE showed up at 7 because we actually found out that his roommate in the trailer he lives in is a member of the church and was baptized in KANSAS. So Jenessa, if there is a jOSE blanco (not to get confused with the other JOse in the previous paragraph mentioned) on record in your ward or zone please transfer them over here to Paris. Jose was dormiendo (sleeping) so we haven't been able to teach him. But, after Sister Rigdon showed up late while we were awkwardly tryin gto communicate to Eugenio. We "kidnapped him" and had a great lesson in the chapel where the carpets just got cleaned and the spirit was pretty strong. Teaching with translation is kind of difficult because it is hard to block out the translation. 

But Eugenio is so awesome. i hope he gets baptized, if not that's okay. He can get baptized when he goes back to HOnduras. 

We didn't get to teach Cam this week unforunately because she got sick. We had a great lesson with her last Sunday and she really wants to learn English. So we are going to kill two birds with one stone and teach her important concepts from the lesson by using pictures/pictrionary that I will have Elder Durrant our district leader draw for us since he is talented at that. I am really excited for that idea the holy ghost probably gave me and anxious to see how it will work. I don't care if she barely knows english, we are going to baptize her!.. if the lORd wills it (:We  most likely will meet with her  this week and invite her to baptism so I'll update you all on her next email.

She is so so sweet! she is very kind. She is 24 years old and is just so innocent it seems. she really humble and wants learn. She lives with her roommate Chi who is also from Vietnam. She also has a few other friends in town that are Vietnamese. She has kind of a silly personality. 

brent is doing okay. HE came to church, but his progression is slowing. He needs to repent more and read the scriptures more!!! ger. Change is hard. This week I decided that to help with Brent and his habit we will give up a habit for a day and then for a week just so we can see what it is like to have an addiction. I am going to not leave the dishes in the sink after I eat, pick up my clothes off the floor and keep it that way (sorry MOm I still struggle with that) and no longer brush my teeth after companionship study so we can leave the apartment sooner. You'll have to follow up with me.

Well it was a great week. I'm glad Jenessa is doing awesome! I fasted for her so there ya go. way to go BYU. Ruby is so adorable. I save all of those pictures you send me. And also, I actually have a few pictures to send you for once! Sorry they're not the best though. 

It's really neat being out at the same time. I am glad for the principle of repentance as I am studying that lately. It feels good to repent and I know that it is a true principle because when I don't repent it is so annoying and feels like you are powerless. But I believe the atonement allows us to be saved on conditions of repentance which is possible through that enabling power. So we should all repent! REPENT YE I SAY, REPENT. haha jk. IN the words of D. Todd, "When we speak of repentance we should have a smile on our faces." 

Have a good one,

Elder Soutas

Hi everyone!

wasn't general conference just amazing!

One of my favorite talks was by Brett Nattress. I can't really remember very much of what he said, but the spirit hit me like a ton of bricks during that when it talked about Mothers reading to their sons despite their sons being rebellious. Before listening to that talk I was kind of distraught because I was worrying that I wouldn't be able to follow through with all of the things required of me, but I felt a strong amount of love and the holy spirit while listening to it. I was just really grateful for all of the values my parents instilled in me. Thank youuuu!

I liked when he said that "it is about the one. It is about the little boy who is not listening." Then after that the choir sang I'll follow him in faith.

I wrote a few thoughts during that while bawling:

Right now I feel so much love, more than I ever have probably my whole life. so much comfort, everything will be okay. I will never forget this wonderful feeling while listening to this song...I have never felt so grateful in my life. Let me please never forget this. Everything will be okay........

Conference was pretty great. We had Brent come to one of the sessions and he said that one of the talks made him cry. Also during conference Sis Bemis, our recent convert, was informed that her father is dying so we spent a little time tryihg to comfort her. She is doing okay. I was impressed that they came to the later sessions even after all of that. Long story short, Sis Bemis sisters wouldn't let her visit her father who was dying. Not cool.

Also had a great lesson with Cam. Have to go. tell you more about it next time! Getting kicked off. This library stinks.

love you, the church is true, 

Elder Soutas